We're late posting the review today because we went to Disneyland to work. The study that says productivity goes up when you go to a coffee shop or somewhere to work does seem to be accurate. But anyway, here is our review for My Monster Secret volume 10! Spoilers ahead! (Incidentally, this review was written in January of 2017, so it will be just as much a surprise to us as it is to you!)

Things are really getting real in this volume, like to the point of, "Wait, there's thirteen more volumes after this?" ...Okay, maybe not thirteen exactly, but close to thirteen, anyway. They're really changing up the formula in Japan, making the lead couple a couple in the middle of the series (or sooner, in some cases). But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, there's Nagisa's love confession. Oh man, when she chickened out, I wasn't, like, super annoyed, more like, "Uuuhhv course." (I was trying to figure out how to make a long "of" without changing it to "oof" or "off." So it's "Of course," but with the "of" elongated.) Because there's like thirteen volumes after this one, so they have to keep the misunderstandings going for a while, right? But then! Oh my goodness, then! Asahi actually went after her! And this is what makes him so great. First of all, he wasn't so clueless as to be like, "Uh, okay, that was weird, but thanks!" He actually put two and two...and two and two together, and figured out that Nagisa really had something more important to say. Second, he knew it was going to have painful results for him and her, but he also knew (from his own experience) that once they got over the pain, they would both feel much better. And third, one of his painful experiences was caused by Nagisa herself, but he didn't hold it against her, and he did everything he could to help her. And this is why the best harem comedies work--because the author realizes that, in order for someone to have a willing harem, they have to be good enough people to deserve it. And that's why I don't usually mind harem comedies, even as a straight woman, because the guy with the harem is usually somebody I like pretty well. (Usually the problem, though, is that if he's not played by a voice actor I'm interested in, there aren't enough other guys in the cast for our favorite voice actors to be in it.)

So that chapter was really good, and then there were two filler chapters. I'm really not sure how I feel about the whole Ryo/Shimada thing, but the reactions and facial expressions in those chapters tend to be pretty brilliant as far as comedy goes. And there was another chapter about Akane tormenting Akari, and when I'm not reading the series, I'm like, "Come on, guys, we've had these jokes a million times; give it a rest." But in the moment, it's actually pretty funny. Masuda-sensei is pretty good at reusing jokes in ways that feel fresh...except for the gods of fortune thing, which, to us, got old really quickly, but that wasn't in this volume, so. So really the only problem with it is that we have to translate it, which, with a series as text-heavy as this one, can decrease the enjoyment. But we hope all you readers enjoyed it! Maybe I just want more of Karen.

Then things start getting really serious. The way Asahi's friends "help" him really makes me wonder if maybe Asahi should take his own advice and look up "friend" in the dictionary, and see if maybe he could get some real ones. At least he has Sakurada. And Okada can be a good friend when he decides to be. But those rumors were pretty funny. And then when Akane showed up with the cash... She really is evil.

But that's not the important part! The important part, of course, is Youko! I think probably a lot of us had a reaction similar to Akane's when Asahi and Youko finally sat down and talked to each other. It was so cute, too. Those kids are adorable. Of course, when it's juxtaposed with jokes about Akari being single, we do kind of have to relate more with her, but I like to think we're mature enough to be sincerely happy for other people without worrying about our own relationship statuses (stati?). And Youko and Asahi really are adorable.

But of course, we don't blame Akane for wanting to mess with them. So the game show chapter was pretty funny, too. Aahh, and using Akari with a feather of envy... But the best was Karen. She was hilarious in the Magical Akalyn video, too. She's the best. ...And yet, despite that, the radio show chapter was not our favorite thing. So I guess we mostly like Karen as a supporting character. If she's an accessory to the humor, she's the best. When she's the focus... But when she first showed up and it focused on her, she was still the best, so maybe it was just this particular chapter. It did seem to focus more on Asahi's reaction to what was going on than anything else.

Anyway. This was another fun volume and we hope you all enjoyed it!

Ah, this series. I like it, but it's hard to remember that when we're so busy. We think we might be less busy soon, but every time we've thought that before, either we turned out to be wrong, or we did something to make it wrong, like leave the country.

Anyway this week is another week of no new releases for us! And looking at our list, that's going to continue to be the case next week. But the week after that! we have five new releases! So it evens out, I guess. Either way, tune in next week, for our review of My Brother the Shut-In 4!

Today I'm thankful for finding a nice place to sit and work today, getting all our work done early, having time to finally write a review (now we just have three left, if we can get to them before we finish Waiting for Spring...but ideally we'll finish that tomorrow), getting to hear lots of great fiddling from Farley, and the yummy pizza at Pizzaterian.